The Turning Point
by thehybridmikaelson
Summary: AU-ish. Five hundred years after Klaus broke the curse and re-united his family, the Mikaelsons get a call from one Damon Salvatore about a new, human doppelganger. Klaroline/Stebekah/Delena/possible Kennett
1. Prologue

Damon lies on the road, arms behind his head, eyes closed, listening to the quiet night. Wind, water, leaves. This is the excitement of his death—well, not quite. At the moment, Damon is waiting patiently for his next meal. It's a hunting style, one Damon isn't new to. He knows the routine well; it's an old one. It starts with him lying on the road, waiting. A car comes by, the driver drunk or not looking or tired, whatever, and won't mind the fog that appears out of nowhere at all, and then won't be able to stop when he hits the man standing in the fog; that's him, being run over. When the panicking driver gets out of his car to check on him, Damon will vamp up and, well, eat him. It's clean, simple, and efficient. The Katherine way.

Oh, Mystic Falls. This town is his home. Sort of. This is the town he was born in a hundred and sixty-nine years ago. He'd say it felt good to be home, but, well, it really doesn't. The last time he'd been here was, what, in the forties? Fifties? Yeah, it had been in the fifties. It's changed a lot since, with better cars and better clothes. Oh, the wonders of modern technology. And it's _definitely_ a far cry from the last time he'd been alive, which was almost a hundred and fifty years in itself.

Oh, grumpy. What's gotten into him? Nostalgia? He rolls his closed eyes, exhaling deep. Come on, cars. There's a nice man here, just waiting to be run over so he can eat your drivers. Come this way! I won't hurt you, I just want to eat you! _Small towns_, really. There is absolutely nothing going on. Maybe if he wanted some real traffic he could lie down on the road a couple hours earlier, before everyone got back in their homes and pulled their curtains shut.

* * *

The entire family has gathered behind them. Stefan has got the mildly irritated look on his face he has most of the time he's talking to his brother, Nik looks slightly stressed, Bekah looks concerned, Elijah's got his usual poker face on, Katherine looks surprised, Kol looks unconcerned—but that's how Kol always looks. She can tell he is concerned because the drink in his hand is mostly untouched, and Kol _never_ really stops drinking.

Caroline is, for most of it, stressed out. It's been a half hour since they got their first call on Klaus' phone, and all the good mood of the day was wiped out in a two-minute conversation that ended in Klaus looking like he wanted to break something and then "accidentally" breaking his phone by throwing it at the wall. In the next ten minutes, the entire family (minus Finn and Sage, because they're in Greece, still making up after their last fight. Their making up lasts even longer than their fights, and this fight lasted a full thirty years because Finn is totally a dolt when it comes to women, even Sage, and Sage is stubborn as hell, meaning she kept skipping through countries so he couldn't find her and beg forgiveness) dressed up and gathered in the dining room, all phones out and ready, even though Damon will probably call Stefan's. Caroline had quickly slipped on a robe, alternating between trying not to be annoyed out of her freaking _mind_ at Damon for calling in the middle of the night when they'd just gotten started, and trying to figure out exactly how to calm Nik down, which, even for her, has never been that easy.

* * *

Wait. That voice—Damon knows that voice. He's heard it so many times. "I know, Bonnie, you're right." The voice is saying. "You and my mom both are. I just can't bring myself to tell him. At least not tonight. I'll call you later." In fact, he knows who that voice belongs to a little _too_ well. He stands, zooms up to her, stares. It's her, it has to be, but how?

"Katherine." He says it like a statement, but it's a question, and it comes unbidden. She looks different, to be sure. Her hair's been straightened to pin-straight, her clothes are distinctly _un_-Katherine-like, but, there's no doubt about it. This is her. Except, of course, it can't be. Katherine is with his brother and his new-found family. That guy, Elijah, who'd looked sort of terrifying for a guy in a suit. Katherine'd been right by his side, sticking so close to him it was like the two of them were joined at the hip, her curls melting into his black suit.

_I'm sorry, Damon, but I love Elijah_. She'd said, not really looking or sounding sorry at all. He'd figured it out, then. She'd never been in the tomb; she'd made her own escape plans, and probably known all along that for the past hundred years, he'd been waiting for the comet to pass again so it could open and he could free her. Well, Katherine was a bitch. He didn't care.

_Well,_ he'd thought, _you loved me once_.

But Katherine was old news. He'd had his decade of rage in the seventies after he found out that she was with someone newer and older (as in, really _old_) and he was on good terms with the family and his brother now.

But if Katherine's here, looking like _that_, then clearly something is up. "No—um—I," this girl stutters, but he knows how good she is with pretending. He won't say he's seen all sides of her, but he's seen a lot of them. Besides, he's totally over her. In fact, he thinks he'll call up the Mikaelsons and let them know that Elijah's runaway vampire is in Mystic Falls. Again. Katherine looks behind, like she doesn't know he's talking to her, then says, "I'm Elena." Elena. There's a new name, nothing like Katherine at all, what compelled her to say her name is Elena?

But there is _real_ confusion in her eyes that Damon sees. She's good at acting and better at pretending, but she's not _that_ good. He'll assume this one's telling the truth right now. Besides (and Damon tries not to sniff) he can smell her blood. She's human. "Oh," he says lamely. "You—you just look," he trails off. She looks just like Katherine. Eerily similar, for that matter. "I'm sorry, you just really remind me of someone. I'm Damon." He says.

* * *

Stefan's phone rings, and he hits the _Accept Call_, putting it on speaker phone so everyone can hear easier. "Damon," he says, pressing a hand to his face, rolling his ring over and over—Stefan signs of stress. Look at that. He doesn't really know what's going on, and even he's looking annoyed—or is that just because he's talking to his brother?

"Hello, little brother. How's Barbie Original? Did I disturb anything nasty?" Stefan rolls his eyes, and Rebekah scoffs. Caroline taps a pattern of four on the table with her nails, then stops when Nik shoots her a glare. Right, fine. Doing nothing for any of their nerves.

"Get on with it, Damon." She snaps at him, and they hear a sigh and a clicked tongue from the other end.

"Always in such a hurry, Blondie. Are you having a threesome with Barbie and Stefan? Does Klaus know about this? I always thought he was the jealous type." She's getting ready to snap (Damon's _neck_), when Nik interrupts from next to her,

"Get on with it, mate. Say whatever it is you've got to say."

* * *

"Not to be rude or anything, Damon, but it's kind of creepy that you're out here in the middle of nowhere." He smirks to himself at that. What can he say? He is kind of creepy, what with being a vampire and all. Doesn't this one catch on quick?

"You're one to talk." He says. "You're out here all by yourself." She's not very old, he can tell. Seventeen, maybe a little younger? Now that he's talking to her, he can't see why he'd mistake her for Katherine—except for, of course, the fact that they look exactly alike. She's younger, she's helplessly human, and she's, well, different. Katherine's all smirking and leather jackets and hair. This one's got bigger eyes.

"It's Mystic Falls. Nothing bad ever happens here." _Oh, honey_, he thinks, trying not to laugh at that. _If only you knew_. Mystic Falls. If he's heard right from his brother about his girlfriend and her family, Damon and Stefan were only the last generation of vampires, blood, gore and drama here. The violent supernatural heritage of Mystic Falls goes back to a much older time than the Founders', right down to a thousand years ago, with, get this, vikings! Real life vikings! Sure, nothing bad ever happens in Mystic Falls.

Until it does.

"Got into a fight with my boyfriend." She says, which sounds so immensely _opposite_-Katherine that he wants to laugh. He imagines this girl compelling her boyfriend to stop fighting and sliding her fangs into his neck. He just can't. Instead of laughing, though, he says,

"About what? May I ask." She gives him a world-weary sigh of a sort, a sigh that's odd on someone so young.

"Life, future, he's got it all mapped out."

"'And you don't want it?" He asks, not unkindly, which is something for him.

"I don't know what I want." There it is again; nothing like that _bitch_, who always knew _exactly_ what she wanted (and, as she told him very plainly the last time they met, that was never him).

"Well, that's not true. You want what everybody wants." _Well_, he thinks as he says it, _that's not strictly true either._ Not everybody wants that, he figures, but _he_ does, and his brother did, and, well, yeah, he'd say that it's something most people would like for themselves. An idea, more than the actual thing, maybe. He likes the idea of it, and he'd say that most vampires he knows would, too.

"What, mysterious stranger who has all the answers?" She returns, and he wonders how they slipped into this easy banter. When did that happen? Wasn't he paying attention?

"Well, let's just say that I've been around a long time. I've learned a few things."

"So, Damon," she says, "tell me. What is it that I want?" He moves closer, gives her his most intense look.

"You want a love that consumes you. You want passion, an adventure, and even a little danger." His answer seems to take her breath away for a second, and he wonders. _But do you really want it, Elena?_ Or just the idea of it? Because Damon does. He had it, and then he had the promise of it in the near distant future, and then he didn't have it anymore.

_Cut it out_, Damon snaps at himself. _You're being sappy_.

* * *

The problem is, by now almost everyone already _knows_ what this is about, but none of them want to accept it. The last time—Caroline remembers it, and it was horrible. Stefan, obviously, doesn't have much idea, but the rest of them, well, they remember a bit too well, and Caroline, all by herself, is sort of terrified. The idea that there's another one of _them_ is, well, not good. At all. There is, of course, a possibility that there isn't really; after all, the curse has been broken for a while, and there's no reason for another doppelganger to pop up, not now. Katherine should have been the last one; besides, the doppelgangers only appear in the Petrova line. But, if what Damon's said is true—

_and she looked exactly like Katherine_.

* * *

"So what do _you_ want?" She asks. He pauses. _He wants—_a car pulls up, a horn is honked, and the pause is gone. "It's my parents," Elena turns, looks, and says. When she turns back around, he's moved even closer to her and is trying not to think about the scent of blood in her veins (he's _hungry_) and all the reasons he shouldn't eat her, all of which start and end in that he wants to solve the mystery that is this girl.

"I want you to get everything you're looking for," he says, almost to himself, "but right now I want you to forget that this happened. Can't have people knowing that I'm in town. Yet. Goodnight, Elena." He smiles, rushes away, and watches her blink in confusion, showing that she's been properly compelled and doesn't remember him at all. Good. He watches as she gets in the car, then follows behind at a distance, watching. There are some things that have been readily established; she's human, and she's not Katherine, but she looks _exactly_ like her. She's got a life in Mystic Falls, but why here? Why not anywhere else in the world? Why this town?

More importantly, how now? He's been keeping close track of that comet (not literally) and he knows that it's coming soon, and then the tomb can be opened again. Is that what she's got to do with? The tomb? Or is it something else entirely? At any rate, Damon knows who to ask. Even in the vampire world, he's got some pretty good connections; and by that, he means the oldest vampires in the world, one of whom, by the way, his little brother has been dating for nearly the last century. He won't say he's very close to them, and he won't say he likes them much, but he's been around enough times to have heard brief mentions of some curse involving Katherine, something, something. They don't really talk about it much, so he's not sure exactly what it was. The question is, of course; how does it involve Elena? If it does at all, that is.

A loud crash followed by a low splash interrupts his thoughts and his eyes widen as their car veers down and off Wickery Bridge, into the water. He stares for a tense second, wondering if it would be better to just leave them alone. He's no savior, never has been. He closes his eyes, pinches his nose, shakes his head. This is wholly unnecessary.

_Fuck this,_ Damon thinks, and jumps.

* * *

"I had just gotten to Mystic Falls, and I was just lying in wait of someone to eat, you know, when I found this girl, all teenage angst. Boyfriend drama. Anyways, so we talked, and then she fell off Wickery Bridge and into the river. Car crash. Don't worry, though, I saved her. She's just fine now. Mostly."

"Get to the point, Damon." She snaps, crossing her arms, wondering if any of this would matter at all if he'd just let the girl drown. He's telling this all backwards, _damn_ him, just to get on their nerves. Next to her, Nik bristles, and she places her hand on his. He looks at her, looking the most upset she's seen him in years (and everything's been so happy, too, recently, it's so unfair) and with good reason.

"The thing is, she looks just like Katherine." She shoots a look to Katherine, arms crossed, still dressed. She looks at Elijah, who doesn't look perturbed, but come on, he's Elijah. He never really looks perturbed. "It's kind of creepy, really, like a less-bitchy human version of Katherine. We talked a bit, she said her name was Elena. Again, don't worry, I compelled her to forget about me. She's human for sure. I did some digging around. She's Elena Gilbert, pretty sure she's a descendant of Jonathan Gilbert—hey, Stefan, remember him?—she's just turned seventeen, in high school. One little brother. They live with their aunt, mother's sister. She's still grieving about her parents. Did I mention? Couldn't save them, really a tragedy."

Caroline opens her mouth, confused. _Still grieving_? _Still_? That implies passage of time, which, for starters, Damon shouldn't have allowed. He should have called them at once—except, of course, he doesn't know about how this is very very important news that they should know about immediately. She narrows her eyes at the phone, wishing she could send her glare to Damon instead (and maybe burn him with it), then asks, "When was this, Damon?"

There is a short pause. "Uh," Damon pauses again, and Caroline feels just about ready to stake him—but in the shoulder, just in case he could be useful in the future. "Four months?"

Caroline hangs up.

* * *

**So, this is the prologue. The chapters are longer, though, and while I will be switching points of views, it won't be back and forth like this one was. Sorry about that, by the way. Also, this is a Klaroline fic as much as it is a general TVD fic in essence, but most of the Klaroline will be seen in flashbacks and whatnot.**

**Please do review!**


	2. Chapter 1

It's been over five hundred years since she last came to Mystic Falls, and, she has to say, she doesn't like it now any more than she liked it then. In the fifteenth century, America hadn't quite been discovered, and there had been a lot of natives more than anything else. Trees and Native Americans. It had made performing the sacrifice that much easier, for the Indians preferred to stay indoors during the full moon, and these in particular had avoided them like the plague; apparently, the spot that is now known as Mystic Falls has always been occupied by people who knew of the supernatural world.

_Now_, Mystic Falls is a tiny town that no one had really heard of. They have a school, they have the word 'Mystic' in nearly all of their establishments, a restaurant called the Mystic Grill that's the town hotspot, a hospital, a church, a local police force, a town square, and a raggedy town council that knows about vampires and hunts them as a pastime. The last they knew was because of Stefan, who because he's a Salvatore, is eligible to join the council once he's old enough. He and Damon had been alive during the founding of this town, and being from one of the founding families means a lot here, according to him. It also means they're probably the oldest council members there are—of course, no one on the council needs to know that.

It's different, that's for sure. It's only the four of them so far; herself, Rebekah, Nik, and Stefan, with Kol possibly joining them in a week or two. He says he wants a little more time in Italy before he decides if he wants to join them here (she doesn't see why he'd want to, he's not really the small-town type, or the quiet type) or have a decade or two to himself. Elijah and Katherine have decided to stay away, at the very least, for _now_. Katherine is on even worse terms with Nik than usual after her, uh, announcement—

"Before I came to England, I had a child out of wedlock. That's why I was banished in the first place. Oops?"

—which Katherine justified not telling them about because she didn't think it _would matter_, after the curse had already been broken four hundred years. The bottom line would be, is Elena Gilbert truly a descendant of Katherine's, because if she isn't then her blood is of no use at all and they can leave Mystic Falls and forget it ever happened.

On the other hand, if she _is_—well, Caroline doesn't want to think about that just yet.

But they have time on their hands. Time and compulsion (hopefully). On Stefan's suggestion, they are going to enroll in the high school Elena is in, and try to get to know her. They're also working on tracing her bloodline backwards, which will probably be harder on her mother's side than her father's considering Elena is probably a direct descendant of Jonathan Gilbert, a Founder that Stefan knew in 1864. It shouldn't be hard passing off as students; after all, she had only been seventeen when she was turned, as was Stefan. Bekah had been nineteen, but it wasn't much of a difference. Nik, of course, is a little too old to pass off as a student, and he'd make a terrible teacher, especially with the mood he's always in as of lately.

Not that she blames him. She's finding it hard not being high-strung all the time, and he's got it worse. He's the one who'll eventually have to make the choice, and it's really not fair to him. He needs time to think about it all at least a thousand times, and he needs time to brood, which he should be able to do just fine, completely undisturbed in the Salvatore Boarding House. Except, of course, for Zach Salvatore who is the local vervain supplier and also a member of the Town Council. Unfortunately, they don't have a place to stay in town, and Stefan offered the boarding house until they're done renovating the old property just outside town limits (she's already hired a construction company and compelled themselves top priority and workmen, which means it shouldn't take_ too _long) so it's a place fit to live in, she's taken it up as a personal responsibility.

She winces as a particularly loud snore of Zach Salvatore's floats down. His snoring isn't really that loud, and if she were human it wouldn't be audible so much as a room away, but with vampire hearing it's _unbearable_. Next to her, Nik clenches and unclenches his jaw, shooting a glare upwards. She really would rather they didn't have to stay here but it's this or a cheap hotel outside city limits, which none of them would rather stay in; and they don't trust that the mayor, a Mr. Richard Lockwood, who owns the largest (and so most ideal) property in town, will be able to be compelled. She pats a hand on his shoulder that he ignores, but doesn't shrug off.

They're waiting up for Damon. On the phone he said he'd come in the night they arrived to—she doesn't even know for what, but patience has never been Nik's forte, and he needs to hear what Damon has to say that couldn't be said over the phone and won't wait a day. She's choosing to stay up with him and wait, but Damon that bastard, is taking his own sweet time getting here. She looks at her watch and narrows her eyes; look at that. It's eleven already. Jet lag doesn't really affect vampires as it does humans, but it's about five AM in Sicily and she has yet to sleep for almost two days. That is unless you count the short naps she took on the flight, which she doesn't.

He enters without bothering to knock or anything, but it's not like it really matters. Oh, Damon. If she went the next millenium without meeting him again, it would still be too short. Sure, he can be mildly entertaining in his sarcastic way every once in a while, but on the whole, he's annoying, lewd, still just a little obsessed with Katherine, and disrespectful to his elders. Needless to say, she doesn't really like him. Right now he's got blood dribbling down his chin, which, even as a vampire, she finds slightly disgusting. Now, Damon's not usually too bad in the hygiene area, so she just _knows_ he's shown up looking like this just to be an ass.

"Blondie," Damon says with a smirk, and she fights to roll her eyes at the nickname. "Klaus,"

"Say what you wanted to say and leave." She snaps, leaning closer to Nik, whose irritation she can practically _feel_; which isn't weird of course because this is Damon Salvatore. Nik gets along brilliantly with Stefan, but it's no secret that he does not like Damon one bit. Can't really say she's surprised seeing as she doesn't either.

"I just wanted to welcome you to Mystic Falls." He pauses, then says, "Welcome to Mystic Falls."

Caroline fights a snarl as he looks at them all smug. It's such a very Damon thing to do (wind them up) that she wonders how she didn't even see it coming in the first place. She gets off the couch, zooms to him before he can notice even with the enhanced vampire-sight and all, snaps his neck, and throws him out of the house (literally), then drags Nik to their room upstairs.

After that, Caroline tries not to stress over the fact that Nik let her _drag_ him anywhere.

* * *

Rebekah's had a different home every decade or so for nearly all her life. They stay in some places longer than others, but they never stay in one place for too long. She's had a lot of houses over the years, but when she really thinks about it, home only evokes memories of a thousand years ago, a hut and a younger brother and what it was like to be human and still feel like you've got forever ahead of you. And so it feels strange to come back to the town that has become Mystic Falls, just like it did five hundred years ago.

But this _town_ is not home. And Rebekah would so much rather be in Sicily right now, shopping or on the beach or maybe even eating gullible tourists. She almost wishes Damon would have let the newest doppelganger (look, another one! _Wonderful_!) drown and never let any of this happen. She doesn't want to be here. Stefan doesn't want to be here, Nik really doesn't want to be here and neither does Caroline. The only reason any of them are here is because there's another doppelganger, and there's a strong possibility that her blood can be used to make hybrids.

Again.

Rebekah doesn't _really_ know why they're bothering after the disaster that occurred last time. However, Nik is her brother and they stick together—most of the time. Caroline's right to worry about him and Caroline's also right in that he needs familial support right now which is why they're here. Also why she's trying to convince Kol to join them, even if Kol is an obnoxious twat who'll likely make a mess of things.

Stefan suggested that they join the high school the lovely Elena Gilbert goes to, become her friend and get into her inner circle. It's an excellent idea of course, but it means they all really have to attend the school and play at being human. She doesn't know why they're making _her_ do it, too. At the very least she'll get to keep an eye on the doppelganger, who she doesn't trust around Stefan, considering Katherine used to think that she loved him, and the doppelgangers tend to have similar tastes in men. She could only hope that this one didn't throw herself at Nik, and not only because she doesn't quite trust that idea (didn't with Katerina, and definitely doesn't now) but because Caroline would snap her neck then and there.

Everyone watches them as they enter the building. No, literally. Eyebrows are raised, looks are swapped and endless stares are sent their way as they enter the school and head towards the office to get themselves registered. They approach the secretary's desk, Caroline smiling pleasantly at the woman. Caroline is currently the only one with even the slightest hint of an upbeat attitude and Rebekah's never quite understood _how_, but she always manages to be positive. The only time Rebekah's seen her anywhere near defeated is—

_Hold up,_ Rebekah hears behind them, and strains not to turn as two girls stop just outside the office to stare at them. _Who's this?_

"Here are our records." Caroline says, and hands in three sets of the fake records Stefan had made for them. The woman looks through them at a turtle's pace, and Rebekah turns her focus towards the two girls talking about them.

_All I see is back._ The second girl responds, and Rebekah frowns. Lovely, just lovely. She recognizes that voice, and of course she does, considering the owner (someone else who's got the same voice, anyways) has lived with them for nearly forty years. She wants to turn and look, find out exactly how this doppelganger looks, if she's at all different from Katerina Petrova, but can't; after all she's not supposed to be able to hear her.

_It's a hot back._ The other voice says, and Rebekah once again struggles not to look. They're talking about Stefan, of course they are. While Rebekah can't quite disagree with that, she doesn't like it. Caroline shoots her a brief look behind Stefan's back, and Rebekah stares resolutely at the wall ahead. The secretary turns her head up to look at them all with a frown.

"All your records are incomplete. You're all missing—" Rebekah rolls her eyes and stares into the secretary's.

"Look again. I'm sure you'll find all the necessary documents present." She compels her, and the woman looks back down.

"So they are." She says after a bit, and Rebekah sighs and shares a brief look with Caroline. They've been warned; this town knows about vampires, and so they're all quite unsure of how far their compulsion will work and on whom. It's necessary not to be too obvious about the compelling, or else someone intelligent (and there's got to be at least one of _those_) will figure out what they're trying to do. It's quite annoying, really. She's wondered more than once if they could take all the vampire-aware citizens of the town, wait for the potential vervain to have left their bloodstream and then compel them to forget about vampires.

_I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar. The two girls are his twin sisters._ She hears and frowns, confused.

_You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?_ The doppelganger asks, tone amused. Psychic? What's that about? Rebekah notices Caroline raise an eyebrow; she's also listening in, of _course_.

_Pretty much._ The other girl responds. The doppelganger says something about being right back, and the supposedly psychic girl mutters _Please be hot_under her breath. Rebekah clenches and unclenches her jaw, noticing Stefan's slight smirk. She shoots him a glare and he grins.

"Thank you," he says to the secretary, who's still got the slightly-dazed look of someone who's been compelled. He starts to turn, and Rebekah follows him and Caroline as they head to their assigned lockers. Oh, think about it—_lockers_. She's got a locker to put her schoolbooks in. She's got _schoolbooks_, what a tragedy.

Caroline nudges her subtly, and Rebekah looks towards the psychic girl, who's staring unabashedly at Stefan as he passes. Her eyes flit towards herself and Caroline for a bit, before she goes back to looking at Stefan. _Psychic_, what does that mean? Does she want to be psychic? _Is_ she psychic? The chances are highly unlikely if she "sensed Seattle, and he played the guitar", because neither of those were true.

Once again, as they pass, everyone stares, wide-eyed and open-mouthed without so much as an ounce of shame. This is what all small towns are. Introduce a new set of people and they'll latch on like bees to honey. Three new students in the only school around town? How incredibly _fascinating_. She likes bigger cities _so_ much more, like oh Chicago. Maybe once they're done with this town, which hopefully will be soon, they'll go back there. Maybe just her and Stefan that would be nice. It's been ninety years after all. Perhaps they'll go for their centennial.

"I'll be right back," Stefan murmurs, angling his head towards the men's room, and Rebekah nods. Caroline pulls her towards a pair of shut lockers that are apparently theirs and Rebekah turns to them to open her own, trying not to glare at the noisy thing when Caroline opens hers. It's Stefan's voice that makes her look that way—"Uh, pardon me. Is this the men's room?"

Rebekah's first look of the doppelganger is of a wide-eyed girl who looks awfully embarrassed at being caught leaving the men's room. Caroline turns too, staring at the girl who looks so much like Katerina, (and Tatia before her); with the exception of her hair which is pin-straight, unlike Katherine's curls. _Yes._ The doppelganger says, and Rebekah tries not to laugh at how flustered the poor girl is. _Um, I was just, um—I was just_, she stammers, and Caroline gives her a piteous look. _It's a long story_, she finally concludes, giving him an awkward sort of smile. Rebekah's eyes flash at that _look_, because she _knows_ that look. It's the look of interest and Rebekah does not want the doppelganger interested in Stefan. They both step one way, and then they both step the other way, and the doppelganger's blush intensifies and her smile grows. Rebekah glares; Stefan gives the girl way to pass. Elena walks by him, adding a small _thank you_ as she does, and turns back to look at him once.

Rebekah groans.

* * *

So this is what Caroline's been reduced to. Having to convince Bekah that this is all for the greater (eventual) good, and that befriending the doppelganger will be a useful thing even if she has already established herself as Rebekah's mortal enemy—or is that just Rebekah being dramatic?

Caroline gets it. She really, really does. In fact, if just a short while ago Elena Gilbert had been making eyes and smiling a _very_ interested smile at Nik, she'd be just about ready to snap her neck, consequences be damned too. In such a situation, Bekah would be the one dragging her by the arm and telling her that this is probably good and it's probably even _better_ that Nik's cozying up to her is going to be immensely useful in the future. Elena Gilbert being interested in Stefan however, is completely unnecessary and she's not cruel enough (because yeah, it would actually be sort of cruel to Rebekah and possibly even to Stefan) to let that go on for any longer. But there won't be any squashing of Elena's potential crush on Stefan if Rebekah doesn't agree to even go near her, let alone befriend her.

"You can't make me go talk to her." Rebekah snaps, and Caroline crosses her arms and gives her her most intimidating glare, which could make most other vampires whither, but never _really_ works on any of their family (exceptions being Katherine and Kol, the latter only on rare occasions and the former only when he knew Caroline was super-pissed) because they know her well enough. She huffs, frowns, and stomps her foot on the ground. Rebekah remains unmoved.

"Oh, come _on_. For Nik?" She tries, hoping at least _this_ will work. Really, there's no point being at this school if they can't get into Elena Gilbert's inner circle; if it was just about watching her and making sure no harm comes to her, they would have compelled a vampire or three to keep an eye on her. As it is that's not what enrolling in her high school is about at all. No, it's about infiltrating her life and making sure she has absolutely nowhere to go when she realizes that the people she thinks are her friends are really just using her blood to create a species.

"I came to this town and enrolled in this school _for Nik_. I am _not_ pretending to be _BFFs_ with her, and I refuse to have Stefan flirt with her." Caroline glares but she still gets it. If it were any other girl, Rebekah wouldn't bat an eyelash at their seductive stares at Stefan, and probably more; after all, Stefan likes to play with his food before he eats it most of the time. As is, this is the doppelganger, and everyone knows of the doppelganger's charm and how easily everyone falls in love with her which is why Rebekah's got every right to be jealous and annoyed. Besides, Elena Gilbert has big doe-eyes and a bright blushing face. She's even _worse_ than Katerina had been as a human. Bekah doesn't really have anything to worry about. She saw the uncomfortable-to-the-level-of-near-pained look on Stefan's face as he caught her eye during History class, which was freaking _hilarious_. In between the glances Elena kept sending towards him. Plus, he's totally in love with Rebekah. Unfortunately trying to explain that to Rebekah has gotten her nowhere.

"We need to do this Bekah." She says softly, biting her lip and trying to go for emotional blackmail. Rebekah clenches her eyes shut at her tone, pauses and seems to collect herself and then nods, opening her eyes with a bright smile—that is _so_ fake. Caroline can tell. But that isn't important. After all, it's not like she wants to buddy up with Elena Gilbert either, but this isn't _for_ them, which is why it doesn't matter all that much. So she signals to Stefan all the way across the cafeteria to crash into Elena as she heads to a table with Bonnie.

_Hey,_ Elena says somewhat breathlessly, and Stefan gives her a small smile, the kind that she _knows_ will make poor Elena have butterflies in her stomach—butterflies which will last a very, _very_ short while because she's not going to let that face go on for too long.

_Hi,_ Stefan replies, and Elena practically blushes, oh, the poor thing. She understands, of course; Stefan may be like her brother, and she's definitely a kept woman, but even she sees that Stefan is attractive, and he's got that mysterious brooding thing going for him. It makes sense that Elena would develop a small crush on him as soon as she saw him. What's important is to use that to their benefit as much as possible.

_We were just having lunch. Would you, um, like to join us? _Elena hastens to explain, and Caroline grins at Rebekah in triumph, then stops because Bekah's still pouting and grumbling silently to herself. She rolls her eyes and watches them head over to an empty table. Stefan introduces himself to the two of them, giving them his most pleasant smile, one of those smiles that are _not creepy_, but not quite genuine either. Rebekah makes a face as he sits down opposite Elena, but Caroline smiles because the table is definitely big enough for six.

"Come on, Bekah, let's crash their party." She plasters a smile on her face and takes her hand and goes up to Elena Gilbert and her best friend, a Bonnie Bennett (potential Bennett witch? Investigate). As they approach, making as much noise as humans tend to make while walking, Stefan, Elena and Bonnie turn to face them, eyebrows raised. "Uh, Stefan?" She asks, biting her lip and shooting a look back to Rebekah, and barely just preventing a glare when Stefan smirks for a millisecond; too fast for humans to see, but she catches it.

"Oh, uh why don't you join us?" Elena suddenly sputters, looking between the two of them, and she shoots a grateful look to her, and she and Rebekah sit down next to Stefan.

"Hey!" She greets the two with a grin and a wave. "I'm Caroline, this is Rebekah. We," she pauses, avoids looking at Rebekah, "have History together." If you'll excuse the pun—Elena looks confused, _obviously_, because she spent all of History alternating between staring at Stefan and blushing into her lap (at her phone; she was texting someone, likely Bonnie). Bonnie, though, nods in recognition, smiling at the two of them and signaling them to sit. "And English."

"Are you siblings?" Elena asks, _clearly_ prying, and Caroline shakes her head, then nods.

"Me and Bekah are sisters but Stefan is Bekah's boyfriend. He just moved back to town, and we're staying with him until our new house is fit to live in." Bekah shoots a quick grateful look at her as Elena's face falls. Bonnie's too and she shoots a look at Elena. Caroline tries not to grin too wide, and Stefan smiles at Rebekah in that nauseatingly sweet way they definitely do _not_ have but she figures they're going for high school sweethearts here, not vampires that have been together for nearly a century, so they should be fine playing it that way.

"So, you're all new to town?" Bonnie asks, leaning forward slightly, successfully changing the topic. Caroline is just glad that this is one of _those_ small-towns, where newcomers are like the shiny new toys everyone wants, because that means they won't get all those awkward suspicion-filled looks that say that no one trusts them, because they're new. She's been to those towns, too, _ugh_. All the same, they'll have to keep on the down-low a bit, make sure they go out of their way to blend in and make sure there aren't many, or _any_ deaths around town. They want this Town Council to be complacent.

Oh God. They'll have to stop Damon from feeding on the townsfolk as well, which is _great_, just great. She'll have to get Nik or Kol, when he gets here, to get that through to him. _Much_ older than him or not, Damon never listens to either her, or Rebekah.

"Yeah," Rebekah says. "I was born here, but we moved away when I was very young. Caroline wasn't even born then. We move around a lot, but then my brother decided to come back here, Stefan decided to join us." Elena raises an eyebrow, and Caroline looks at Rebekah; _back_? When did they decide that they were all going to be born here? No one will even have _heard_ of the Mikaelsons—on the other hand, they will have heard of the Salvatores. Come to think of it, their story is something they should all have sat down and discussed, but everyone was a bit preoccupied.

"I was uh, born here too." Stefan adds. "We're staying with my uncle at the moment, Zach Salvatore?"

"All of you?" Elena asks, eyebrows raised, and Caroline fights not to curse under her breath. They're underage, and living together already would _definitely_ be a taboo, especially in such a small town. People talk, of _course_, and they don't want them talking about them.

"Our new house isn't really fit to live in yet. We're all staying at the Salvatore Boarding House until it's done." Caroline chimes in, and Elena nods in understanding.

"So uh, we're meeting up at the Grill tonight. The Mystic Grill, it's sort of a local hotspot. Would you like to come?" Bonnie asks, and Elena looks at her in surprise for a second before nodding, too. Caroline grins widely and shares a look with Rebekah (oh, isn't it exciting? Their first day in town and they're already making friends!) before turning to face Elena Gilbert, who's friendlier than Caroline would have expected. The poor thing.

"We'd love to!"

* * *

**So, as you can guess, this is based a lot off the first episode. The second half of it will be in the next chapter. Thanks for reading, please do let me know what you think! Thanks so much to my lovely new beta, Stephanie (aka klarolinedrabbles on tumblr). Thanks a lot to everyone who followed/favorited and also you lovely people who reviewed, Maiqu and Cattygirl1314 :)**


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